Budget Guide To Iran

Grand Escapades’ Budget Guide To Iran – Easy To Travel On A Budget!

Type Of Travel

This was a short trip (2 weeks), with a “flashpacking” to mid-range standard of travel.

As far as hotels are concerned, we chose rather budget guesthouses and hostels, except in Shiraz and Qom, where we splurged a little and enjoyed good mid-range hotels. Otherwise, we were not pinching pennies. Several times we chartered taxis, even for longer trips. This added up, but it was a confortable, relaxing trip.

Itinerary & Time Of The Visit

We spent two weeks in Iran in April 2014, and covered the cultural heartland of Iran: Shiraz, Isfahan, Na’In, Yazd, Kashan, Qom & last but not least Teheran. Due to the lack of time, we did not travel the north of the country, nor did we go to the deserts.

Global Budget

Without international fights and visa, we spent 740 € per person for 16 days, that means 46 € per person per day, including some souvenirs…

Costs per Person per Day in €

Long Distances’ Transport

€ 3,65

Short Distances’ Transport

€ 2,75

Total Transport

€ 6,40

Hotels

€ 15,00

Restaurants & Food

€ 6,80

Drinks & Going Out

€ 0,00

Every Day Life (& Souvenirs)

€ 6,10

Total Living

€ 27,90

Visits & Tours

€ 11,90

Activities

€ 0,00

Total Tours & Activities

€ 11,90

Total Country:

€ 46,20

Hostels & Hotels

There is a very wide range of accommodations in Iran, from rock bottom to highest luxury. Accommodations are generally cheap, and places where we stayed were pleasant, though rooms can be really small.

City

Name

Type of Accommodation

Type of Room

Price per Night (€)

Evaluation (1 – 5 Stars)

Shiraz

Park Saadi Hotel

Hotel

Double Room

51,40

***

Esfahan

Jolfa Hotel

Hostel

Double Room

27,90

***

Na’In

Na’In Tourist Inn

Hotel

Suite

28,60

****

Yazd

Orient Hotel (Marco Polo)

Guesthouse

Double Room

19,10

***

Kashan

Negin House

Guesthouse

Double Room

35,70

***

Qom

Khorshid Hotel

Hotel

Superior Room

45,60

**

Teheran

Khayyam Hotel

Hostel

Double Room

27,90

**

Some Remarks about the Hostels…

Jolfa Hotel is nothing special, but the location in the middle of the Jolfa Quarter is simply amazing.

Khorsid Hotel was very well located, but on a major road and hence extremely noisy and overpriced.

Khayyan Hotel is cheap for Teheran, but rooms are ridiculously small and the location is simply horrible.

Na’In Tourist Inn offers amazing suites at a very reasonable price, in a very quiet location.

Restaurants & Food

It was hard to spend 7 € per person per day on food, although mostly we ate at touristy places. The local restaurants we dropped in were usually inexpensive eateries. Only once did we have dinner in a fancy local restaurant in Qom, recommended by our taxi driver. The absence of alcohol also helped to keep costs down.

Transport

Transport is incredibly cheap, and really efficient in Iran. All in all we spent 6,5 € per person per day on transports, even though we took a plane from Teheran to Shiraz, which was 35 €… Buses and Trains are extremely cheap – for example Yazd to Kashan by train, a 390km ride, was less 5 €. From Qom to Teheran, 130km, we traveled by taxi for 25€. So even such extravaganzas won’t have a large impact on your budget.

From

To

Type of Transport

Company

Distance (km)

Duration (hours)

Price (€)

Evaluation (1 – 5 Stars)

Teheran

Shiraz

Flight

Mahan Air

922

01:10

32,25

Shiraz

Esfahan

Bus

484

07:15

3,30

Esfahan

Na’In

Bus

143

03:00

2,30

Na’In

Yazd

Bus

161

02:30

Yazd

Kashan

Train (Express)

390

03:15

4,50

*****

Kashan

Qom

Taxi (Chartered)

113

01:30

11,90

Qom

Teheran

Taxi (Chartered)

130

02:15

23,80

Tours & Activities

Milad Tower or Teheran Tower at night, Teheran, Iran

THAT will be a big chunk of your budget! Admission fees to museums, mosques, tombs or even gardens are high, and there are very few sights where you do not have to pay. Quite often we have to rent a taxi for the whole day to reach places that were outside of the city we stayed in (Persepolis, Abyaneh, Meybod & Khoronaq, Zein – O – Din) and those journeys were not that cheap.

For those side trips and for entry fees, we spent in total 12 € per person per day which is almost as much as we spent on hotels and a quarter of the total budget.

Splurge At Reasonable Costs?

Green House in the Saadabad Palace in the Shemiran area of Tehran

Chartering Taxis is a great way to increase your comfort and remains very reasonable. We did it both for the leg Kashan to Qom & Qom to Teheran and had very relaxing trips.

More comfortable hotels, like in Shiraz, will have a real impact on your overall budget, as comfortable hotels are high in demand with tour groups.

Reduce Costs?

Probably the most efficient way to cut costs is to try to find fellow travelers for tours, like going to Meybod & Khoranaq from Yazd, or to Abyaneh from Kashan. These expenses were a large chunk of our budget.

Try CouchSurfing, both for the cultural experience and the financial aspect. We plan to do so too in the future, more clearly for one reason: to meet locals.

If I may suggest, you should provide expenses at local currency. Or at least, provide the average exchange rate you had. Because exchange rates can fluctuate tremendously. The iranian rial is a very good example.

Hi Fabrice,
As you indicate, local currencies can fluctuate so much against Euro & USD (most readers come from countries with one of those currencies or a currency linked to those), so giving exchange rates in various currencies make things harder to compare.
You are actually absolutely right though, I should at least give an average exchange rate to the Euro.
Good tip! I will remember it for the future.
Cheers, Gilles

Do you recommend to book hotels and train/flight in advance, or is it ok to just ‘walk-in’? I’m planning to visit Iran as a solo traveler, mainly to experience people and their culture. Also, do you suggest a guide for any city/place, or ample ‘homework’ about places to be visited will be enough?

Hi Rutansh,
Thank you for your feedback!
You do not need to book trains & flights in advance. For hotels, it depends if you are traveling during major school holiday, especially France (many French people visit Iran currently). If yes, it might be wise to book slightly ahead in the more popular places. But I do not think it is a must if you are flexible on the accommodation.
As far as guides are concerned, it is definitely a matter of taste. But in all major sight, you can book a local guide on short notice (at the sight). They are normally very knowledgeable. And it is not that expensive. I had several guides, as I really enjoy understanding more. But once again, this is a matter of taste.
Do not hesitate if you have further questions.
Cheers, Gilles

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